Today's Theodor-Heuss-Square was used originally as the market square of early Bremerhaven as early as 1827. Buildings of these early times have not survived, but the square still has its original shape. The Lord Mayor Smidt monument also reminds us of the foundation of Bremerhaven.

It shows the famous Bremen Lord Mayor and statesman Johann Smidt (1773-1857). After complicated negotiations, he was able to acquire a strip of land on the eastern bank of the Weser north of the mouth of the River Geeste for the State of Bremen: Bremerhaven was born.

The monument itself was created by the Leipzig sculptor Werner Stein (1855-1930) and uveiled on September 12th 1888.